‘Blackmailed’ by boyfriend, teen steals jewellery from home

The teenager stole 1.9 kg of gold jewellery, 3 kg of silver bars, and 2 kg of silver plates and other articles over one year

A teenage girl allegedly stole about 1.9 kg of gold jewellery, 5 kg of silver articles and cash from her home and gave them to her 20-year-old boyfriend.

When caught by her father, the 17-year-old claimed her boyfriend, a BCom student, had blackmailed her by threatening to leak her obscene photos. Her father has filed a police complaint seeking action against his daughter’s boyfriend and urged the police to recovery the valuables.

Byatarayanapura Police have taken up a case of extortion and also invoked Sections under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Information Technology Act. They have also arrested the BCom student.

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The girl’s father, 45, who works for a software company, told the police he is into depression since the death of his father in 2018 and wife in 2021. So, he didn’t pay much attention to the gold jewellery and other valuables in the house.

In July, insurance company representatives visited the teen’s house and asked the father to pay a premium for the gold jewellery or else the policy will lapse. On August 8, when he began searching for the gold insurance bond, his daughter tried to stop him from looking in the cupboard. He then discovered that a large amount of jewellery was missing.

When questioned by the father, the teen told him about her boyfriend and said she had been dating him since she was in class 10.

She said he was blackmailing her by threatening to morph the photos and show them to her father. He also threatened to upload them on social media if she didn’t pay him Rs 2 lakh. Initially, she paid him Rs 2,500, Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000. She claimed that he morphed some images and vowed to paste them on the walls of her college. Further, he offered her a drink, recorded her drinking and threatened to post the video with the claim that she was taking drugs.

Since last year, she has stolen 1.9 kg of gold jewellery, 3 kg of silver bars, and 2 kg of silver plates and other articles.

A senior police officer said the suspect had admitted that he was dating the teenager. He also added that she had stolen the jewellery and given it to him, but he denied blackmailing her. He also claimed to have returned all the 300 grams of jewellery that she had given him.

Police are investigating if the girl had given the jewellery to other friends.